Sasha

Language isn't a barrier where there's love."Potselui mama," Dee Dove says in Russian with a hint of a Virginia accent, as she purses her lips and places them against ** her new 3-year-old son's cheek, waiting patiently for a return peck.Since adopting Alexander Victorovich from an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia, nearly two months ago, Mrs. Dove and her husband, Kenneth, have depended on a combination of love, a foreign language dictionary and handwritten notes of phonetic spellings to communicate statements such as "I love you."

Language isn't a barrier where there's love."Potselui mama," Dee Dove says in Russian with a hint of a Virginia accent, as she purses her lips and places them against ** her new 3-year-old son's cheek, waiting patiently for a return peck.Since adopting Alexander Victorovich from an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia, nearly two months ago, Mrs. Dove, 32, and her husband, Kenneth, 35, have depended on a combination of love, a foreign language dictionary and handwritten notes of phonetic spellings to communicate statements such as "I love you" and "Don't throw."

"The New Sweet Style," by Vassily Aksyonov. Translated by Christopher Morris. Random House. 480 pages. $27.95.Exuberant, sardonic and outspoken, the Russian satirical novelist Vassily Aksyonov has been a leading writer of his generation since the 1960s. Born in 1933, he witnessed firsthand Stalin's reign of terror, Siberian gulags, Khrushchev's illusory "thaw," and the 1966 show trials of Andrei Sinyavsky nand Yuly Daniel that crushed all the hopes of intellectual freedom this thaw had raised.

On February 3, 2004, RUTH L., loving mother of Annie Merle Flowers, dearest grandmother of Sasha Flowers, devoted sister of Margaret McNeill and Pasley Graham. She is also survived by a devoted son-in-law George Flowers and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Friday after 8:30 A.M. Family will receive friends on Saturday at St. Paul Inspirational Baptist Church, 2010 W. North Avenue at 10:30 A. M followed by funeral service at 11 A.M. See www.marchfh.

2 Overtime periods the Fallston girls basketball team needed to get past Rising Sun, 56-55, last Thursday. The Cougars prevailed despite squandering a 17-point halftime lead. 6.3 Assists Joppatowne guard Sasha Matthew is averaging per game, tied for the best in the area. 17 Points the Joppatowne boys basketball team scored in the first half last week against Aberdeen. That left the usually potent Mariners with a 20-point deficit, and Aberdeen went on to a 73-58 victory.

On July 2, 2005 WILLIAM J. HASERT; husband of Patricia (nee Wisner) Hasert; father of Sharon L. Hasert, Linda P. Hasert, father-in-law of Michael Freeman; grandfather of Sasha Freeman. Services will be held at ELINE FUNERAL HOME, 11824 Reisterstown Road (at Franklin Blvd), on Wednesday at 12 P.M. Interment Meadowrdige Memorial Park. Friends may call Tuesday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers please make contributions to the Salvation Army, 814 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21230. www.elinefuneralhome.

For Judy and Barry Williams of Bel Air, the Christmas season is more than a holiday; it is also the time that they remember and celebrate the adoption of their son, Donald. On Dec. 2, 1993, the couple, in their late 40s, boarded a plane to Russia to adopt a little boy from the region of Perm, about 1,000 miles northeast of Moscow, toward Siberia. The child was in poor health, suffering from severe hip dysplasia that nearly fused the tops of his legs to his hips. He also shared Judy Williams' birthday.